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benbenben_9082
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Apr 21, 2008

SSL for management interface

Hi, I was wondering if someone could help with this rather simple query.

 

 

Basically the management interface of my F5 is using the default certificate and I wish to change this to use my certificate which I have installed. I can't seem to figure out where to specify which certificate should be used for the management interface.

 

 

Could anyone give any pointers?

 

 

Thanks - Ben

8 Replies

  • Hi Ben,

     

     

    You can import a new cert for the management GUI under System >> Device Certificates. The expected format for the cert and key is PEM.

     

     

    Aaron
  • Yep, I tried this. It still seems to be using the localhost.localdomain cert which came with the unit.

     

     

    I could try deleting this default certificate however I'm worried I might break access to the management interface.

     

     

    Any other ideas?
  • That should be it. Can you try restarting httpd, by running 'bigstart restart httpd' on the command line?

     

     

    Aaron
  • Yes, that did the trick. Thanks!

     

     

    I do however need to use a keychain, is that possible?
  • I think you should be able to concatenate the main cert and intermediate cert(s) together when you import them to the BIG-IP.

     

     

    Aaron
  • Yep, I tried this using the same method as when I setup the certs for virtual servers. Even tho the import goes ok, it seems that it doesn't accept the whole chain, this is verified by exporting what I have just imported.
  • That's odd. I tested by importing a cert and intermediate bundle. The GUI shows the certs, but when connecting with openssl s_client, I only see the primary cert.

     

     

    I guess could manually edit the ssl.conf (/config/httpd/conf.d/ssl.conf) and specify the chain in:

     

     

     

    Server Certificate Chain:

     

    Point SSLCertificateChainFile at a file containing the

     

    concatenation of PEM encoded CA certificates which form the

     

    certificate chain for the server certificate. Alternatively

     

    the referenced file can be the same as SSLCertificateFile

     

    when the CA certificates are directly appended to the server

     

    certificate for convinience.

     

    SSLCertificateChainFile /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.crt/ca.crt

     

     

     

     

    You'd need to copy the intermediate cert to the directory and then restart httpd again.

     

     

    It might also be good to include the modified ssl.conf in the files saved in a UCS.

     

     

    SOL4422: Viewing and modifying the files that are configured for inclusion in a UCS archive

     

    https://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/solutions/public/4000/400/sol4422.html?sr=451055

     

     

    Locate this line:

     

     

    save.2221.ignore = /config/httpd/conf.d/ssl.conf

     

     

    And replace ignore with file:

     

     

    save.2221.file = /config/httpd/conf.d/ssl.conf

     

     

    During an upgrade, you’ll need to do a manual diff of the new ssl.conf and the saved copy to make sure the ssl.conf file hasn’t changed. If it has changed, you should modify the updated ssl.conf to add the chain file.

     

     

    It might be good to run this by F5 Support though to see whether there is/should be an option for specifying a chain cert for the management GUI, and the above steps are a valid workaround.

     

     

    Aaron